The Investigation of the Radiation Behavior of Cells of Energy-Independent Electrically Reprogrammable Memory Based on Self-Formed Conducting Nanostructures. I. Mode of Information Storage

摘要

The results of the experimental investigation of the radiation behavior of cells with the use of the electroformed open Si-SiO_2-W sandwich structures as memory cells are presented. Information in these structures is coded by the width of a nanometer insulating gap in the conducting medium appearing on the free end of the silicon dioxide film during electroforming. The current-voltage characteristics determining their state (highly conducting or weakly conducting) before and after the effect of the X-ray radiation with different irradiation doses were monitored for the cells. It is shown that the state of the memory cells determined by the current at a voltage from 1 to 1.5 V does not vary in the mode of information storage (at zero voltages on conducting buses) even at the highest doses of the influence of the ionizing radiation (up to 6 million units). Considerable variations in the currents for voltages lower than 0.5 V are associated with the influence of the radiation on the semiconductor structures of the cells. The mechanisms of conductivity of the memory cells at low (up to 1.5 V) voltages and the mechanisms of their radiation degradation, mainly consisting of charge accumulation in the silicon dioxide layers, are discussed.